Tag Archives: language

Since 2014, the media has reported on rising anti-foreigner sentiments in Singapore. Migrant construction workers bear the brunt of such xenophobia. Through a recent trip to HealthServe– a non-profit organisation that campaigns for migrant workers in Singapore- a group of CNM students discovered many migrant workers who were attempting to learn English and Mandarin, to better understand their Singaporean employers and the community.

The students started a campaign called Heart Speak (@HeartSpeakNUS), which aims to empower migrant workers by inviting them to teach and share their language with Singaporeans instead. In this way, Heart Speak strives to forge deeper integration between Singaporeans and migrant workers through…language.

Bengali language workshops- the Sekha Sessions– were developed. They provide Singaporeans with a free platform to learn conversational Bengali from the migrant workers themselves.

This is part of the SocialMedia+SocialGood+SocialChange series, where students from the Social Media module (NM4881A) facilitated by NUS’ Department of Communications and New Media (CNM) were tasked with developing creative, compelling and socially-conscious campaigns. We charts the extraordinary journeys of six groups who share a common dream for social good and social change.